The Price of Friendship
by St. Harridan
Summary: He is a school Prefect, he has the power to stop their cruel games, but all he does is hide his face behind a textbook and wear masks of pretense while the Slytherin endures his fate.


Lupin squeezed his eyes shut for what could be the fifth time that afternoon as another jinx flew over his head. They were at it again, this time out in the open where everyone could see them and laugh with them and, ultimately, fuel their hunger for entertainment. Cheap entertainment, Lupin had to admit, but he was in no place to say such things.

They were his friends, and he, who was supposed to be in on the joke by default, couldn't go against them. Sure, he could always tell them off, or maybe have a teacher or two chase at their heels, but Lupin, whenever it came down to matters involving his two best friends, always felt like his status as a school Prefect was of little significance.

Lupin opened his eyes and buried his nose further into the _Defence Against the Dark Arts_ textbook. He always kept it with him, brought it with him everywhere, just in case something...something like _this_ happened. But despite how much he wanted to focus and get his facts straight and find out whether or not he'd done well in his OWLs, Lupin found his mind wandering back to the situation at hand.

"_Levicorpus_!" A flash of light and a yelp and Lupin knew all too well whose knickers was hanging out for the world to see. He pursed his lips, moved his eyes to the very bottom of the page he'd been "reading" for the past ten minutes and tried his best to ignore James's laughter, Sirius's twisted jests and, above all, Snape's weak threats.

"C'mon, Remus, get your big head out of that bloody book and have some fun." Sirius grabbed his sleeve and pulled, insistent. "Look what we've got hanging about our heads!"

"How's the view from up there, _Snivellus_?" James smirked, flicking his wand from left to right, playing with Snape's frame as if he were nothing but a rag doll dangling upside-down in mid-air. "I wish you could come down here and share our perspective - I can't tell you how amusing it is from the ground. You've just got to see for yourself!"

"But he can't, James," said Sirius, voice bursting with poorly suppressed glee, "he just doesn't _know_ how to get down!"

Lupin allowed his eyes to flicker over the scene as James and Sirius burst out laughing, a group of their Gryffindor classmates pointing fingers and teasing, some doubled over with mirth.

"I - just you wait, Potter - I-I'll - get - you - one of - these - days! I swear it!" Snape was in hysterics, his face red with nothing shy of supreme embarrassment. He appeared almost drunk from all the blood that rushed to his head; his black, usually brooding eyes were rolled almost all the way into his head. Lupin could tell that the Slytherin wanted nothing more than to just disappear right then and there.

"Oh, Snivellus, don't get your panties in a knot." James gave his wand a jerk, and Snape's knickers slid down past his waistline that Lupin, too, was ashamed to look. And then James turned to him, and Lupin was about to bury his nose back into his book when James gestured at Snape with his free hand. A wild look in his eyes was enough to tell Lupin that he had just fallen into circumstances that not only didn't favour him, but also endangered him of getting on the wrong side of the teachers.

"Remus, your turn. You've been sitting there looking like you've got a stick up your rear. OWLs are over, come and have some fun!"

The teachers would never let him off easily if he were to take part in such..."entertainment". He was risking enough as it is, letting James and Sirius off for breaking the rules. If a teacher were to come and find him there, doing nothing while his friends made terrible fun of a fellow student... But on the other hand, Lupin thought as he stared up at Snape's angry, yet helpless, face, if he were to refuse his friends... He didn't even want to think of what would happen if he were to lose their friendship. He had worked hard to be where he was now - being what he was only made things worse - and he couldn't risk losing everything that made him happy.

Lupin lowered his gaze, unable to look at Snape any longer. Torn between duty and his friends, in a brief, particularly crazy moment, Lupin considered focusing all his talents for magic to return Snape's fallen wand. That way, when Snape broke free, Lupin would have a valid reason to avoid deepening the Slytherin's shame.

"I've..." Lupin took a short, quick breath. "I've left my wand in the common room. Sorry, James, but you can have my share of fun." He forced a smile, but James only gave an absent scoff.

"Taking pity on me, are you, Lupin?" Snape pointed, eyes wide and glaring. Those were two dark holes that led into oblivion, held a strange aura that Lupin didn't like at all. Whether it was dangerous or not, whether Snape meant his threats, Lupin didn't stay to find out. He grabbed his bag from the ground, slung it over his shoulder and, with the _Defence Against the Dark Arts_ textbook in hand, strode away from the scene.

"Where are you off to, Remus? We were just getting started!" Sirius grabbed his elbow and whirled him around; Lupin tried to avoid the curious stare he received.

"I...I need to have a word with Professor McGonagall. You know, school stuff," he said quickly. Perhaps too quickly, for he could see Sirius lift an eyebrow ever so slightly. "I'll meet you guys in the common room, and then maybe we can have a game of wizard's chess? Or, James, you could teach me that Jinx? Looks like it could come across useful."

Before James or Sirius could reply to that, Lupin gently pulled away and jogged off. It was quiet for a short while, with nothing but the sound of grass crunching like parchment under his feet, and for just a brief moment, Lupin felt like a traitor. But soon the riot returned, and it filled the school grounds and followed Lupin all the way into the castle. By the time he reached the Gryffindor common room, echoes of taunts and jests and, above all, Severus's feeble threats were ringing so loudly in his ears that he almost forgot to say the password and run straight at the portrait.

"Watch yourself!"

"Sorry." Lupin squeezed past the Fat Lady and clambered into the common room. There were a couple of Gryffindors in armchairs, relaxing after the examinations, while some were going about their homework. Returning greetings from a few friends with hasty, absent waves, Lupin hurried up the stairs to the boys' dormitories to find that it was, much to his relief, deserted. He threw his bag down and sank onto his bed, limbs exhausted, mind in turmoil, visions of Severus Snape's tortured being clouding his sight.

He could have stopped it. He could have told them to back off and save Snape the embarrassment, but he didn't.

Lupin ran his fingers through his hair and squeezed his eyes shut for the sixth time that afternoon.


End file.
